Is Photopass CD really worth it?

amycarter

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
19
I've read many posts on the photopass system, and although I understand the idea, I'm not sure that it's worth the money and time to figure it all out. With that said, I'm not the best picture taker and like to blame it on my camera, lol. I would definitely like pictures of my family, but not really sure the extra cd of the park is worth it to me. And are the photopass pictures taken of kids, families, etc really that good???

What have you purchased in the past, how much did you end up spending total in the end, and was it worth it??

Just wondering what to add to my ever growing budget for DLR!

Thanks for your help!

Amy
 
I don't remember what I paid for the WDW one but a few things to consider to decide if it's worth it for you. Will you and everyone in your group be OK with stopping to wait for photographers? Do you want Disney borders/special graphics on any of your pictures? Photopass is the only way to get those special borders, I think. Are you OK with asking other people to use your camera to take pictures of your entire party? If you are, then you may not want to use the photopass photos. I remember it being very easy, just signing into Photopass online, picking my own borders and ordering the pictures I wanted. I don't think it's going to work out for us this time though because my husband is not a picture person and will not stop to let the photographers take our picture unless I beg and put up a fuss.
 
I totally think its worth it!!! Normally, im the one that takes all the pics, so there is never a family pic. With PhotoPass, we are all in the pic. The Photographers are great and you can do serious to silly shots! We are going again in June, and already have budgeted the cd in. Its really easy to figure out, go online, put your number in and start adding frames :) I got a 10 dollar discount on mine, so it was like 49, I think. It "was" 59.99 when we went last July. Not sure if its gone up yet :confused3.

HTH!
 
I think it is worth it. We took a lot of pictures. We did group shots then we did some by ourself and couples etc. It was nice to have that. Especially if you think you are not getting the great shot with your camera. I am so happy that I got it.

It is pretty easy. You had the photopass photog your card they scanit take pictures and hand it back to you. At the end of the trip we put our card number in on the photopass site and then bought the disc after we added borders etc. We did make pritns through snapfish as it was cheaper.
 

Have you looked at the PhotoPass picture thread?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=39753575#post39753575

I have it cued up so you can start at the last page (with the more recent photos) and work your way back in the thread. If you start at the beginning, you may see some stuff that's no longer available.

The Disneyland resort CD is, so far, $59.95 plus a few bucks for shipping (when I got my recent CD for my December DLR trip, the shipping was around or just under $3.00). I also used a code (which was on the PhotoPass website) for $15 off, which brought the cost way down.

You don't need to pre-order the DLR CD. In fact, if you pre-order it, it will cost you more money. It's better to wait until you get back from your trip and then order the CD.

Of course, the WDW CD is much more expensive, and pre-ordering it actually saves you money, but it doesn't work that way for the DLR CD.

I think PhotoPass is worth it for several reasons:

First of all, it's totally free to take the photos and it's even free to view them - and share them - online, within the window of opportunity they give you. You never have to spend a dime if you don't see any photos you like. You only buy the CD or the pictures if you want to.

Second, often times - though not always - the PP photographers do take better photos than we do. They all have great cameras (Nikon DSLR) - whether or not they know how to use them is another story. But more times than not, the photos come out nicely, and better than what I would get on my camera. They will also take photos with your camera, but you won't get the cool magic shots that way.

Third, As previously stated by other DIS'ers, it's a way to get everyone in the group in the photos, so there is not always one person left out.

Fourth - Back-up!!! Just in case something should go wrong with your personal camera, memory card, batteries, film, etc. or your own photos get messed up in some way, PhotoPass is a great way to have back-up photos so you will at least have something from the trip. I have read a couple of DIS'ers' accounts of losing their camera or their memory card and all their photos along with it...and all they had left was PhotoPass!

Fifth - Magic Shots and Fun Poses!! If you get a really fun photographer, they will get creative with you and have you doing silly, goofy poses even without the Magic Shots. (Let them know you are willing to let loose and be goofy!) My 2 female friends and I did a Charlie's Angels pose and a Rockettes kick pose. We have also stood back to back and waved our arms wildly in the air. We've made silly faces and also "looked scared."

And for Magic Shots, they have you pointing up to the sky, pointing down at the ground, sitting on a bench next to Mickey, holding Tinkerbell in your hand, holding a bunch of balloons, posing with characters in and around DLR, etc. It's a lot of fun. We have sometimes burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter because the photographer had us doing wacky things, such as pretending we were getting run over by a train.

Sixth - You can get tons of photos! Even if you only take 30 photos or so - and everyone is different in how many they take - you can turn those 30 photos into 300 by editing and making different versions of each photo using all the borders. That may be beneficial if you'd like to give different versions of certain photos to different family members of friends, maybe use some later for Christmas cards, birthday cards, scrapbooks, etc.

I say - give it a try! You've got nothing to lose!
 
I think it is worth it. We took a lot of pictures. We did group shots then we did some by ourself and couples etc. It was nice to have that. Especially if you think you are not getting the great shot with your camera. I am so happy that I got it.

It is pretty easy. You had the photopass photog your card they scanit take pictures and hand it back to you. At the end of the trip we put our card number in on the photopass site and then bought the disc after we added borders etc. We did make pritns through snapfish as it was cheaper.

I agree! Espec since its normally DD an I just the two of us. Its nice to get pictures of both of us where I'm not reaching my arm out to get the pictures! LOL

I will prolly get one every time lol
 
I pre paid for mine, but will definitely cancel. I was not impressed with the quality of the photos ... DH got WAY BETTER photos. We do have a DSLR and he is a good photographer ... thank goodness!!!

TIP ... you CAN give YOUR camera to the PhotoPass person and they will use it. At character meet and greets, there is always a handler and they will take photos too. DH would take the photos first, then hand it to the handler just for the a family shot.
 
I am still in love with PP but not as much as before. There have been changes to Photopass that I don't like. Mostly, that it's hard to find photographers during certain times. We went last Friday, March 4th and even though I am just finishing up my time window for ordering my DLR CD (order by 3-17) I didn't get a single PP taken. There was a serious lack of photogrphers out. Now we didn't get there until about 3 and left right after the fireworks but I only saw a few photogs out. By the Mickey Statue in the hub, entrance to DCA, and at Meet 'n Greet in Court of Angels (we didn't do this one since we did it several weeks earlier.)

If you are going soon make sure to ask in the PP store on Main St. if they have the Gallery CD still in stock that has the CD coupon in it. It's good for the CD $59.95 as well as free shipping. You'll get the professional Disney pictures on the Gallery CD to use, basically, for free. I use my AP and save 20% on the Gallery CD so overall a good deal. I have already purchased 2 (used on for my WDW/DLR CD in Sept./Oct.). I will be using my other one on my order on 3-17. I'm thinking of picking up another one for my April/May/June plan. My sister and her husband are going to WDW in May so I will inc. their pix on my DLR CD.;)

If you looked at the thread Sharon mentioned you will see many PP from me. When they were allowed on these boards I ran quite a few CD shares. As I lookg back over all the pictures we've had taken I really appreciate them! The ones with my DD (now 11) and I are to me priceless. And yes, they can take photos using your own camera but they just aren't as nice. I have developed a few relationships with a couple of the best photograhpers and we search them out when we go.

While the character photos are nice, I like our non-character ones best. And once your kids get older they stop wanting to take ones with the characters.

One thing I've learned over the years is to have fun with your photos, no matter who is taking them. Be silly, etc. They make the best photos. This New Year's I used one of the same poses they do at Disney (arms flung out) and got some great ones of our family. Especially of my sister and her husband. They both just looked so happy!

Here are a few of my non-character favs.

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our family-my DM is very resistant to being in shots. With PP it's the best way to get all of us.;)

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Celebrating #1 in softball tournament


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DD just being silly

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A very special pose taken by our fav. photographer

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I think this is my absolute fav!

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Another good one.

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The photgrapher captured my DD showing my DM how to pose-priceless!:lovestruc

I say go for it! It the grand scheme of things $60 isn't that much and you may just get a priceless photo.
 
For me, it's not worth it. I'm tempted every time, but I pass.

We get lots of photopass pictures taken along with the same shots with my own camera. I love that the photographers are so patient and willing to do that. When we get home, I compare my shots with the ones on our pass, and they are essentially the same. Maybe a few shots here and there that are better on the pass but not worth it.

I did a real tough assessment of what do I *really* want to do with the photos? It's hard to pass on any of them. I've taken hundreds of great shots around the park, so have any background pictures I need. I frame a few exceptional shots in Disney frames. I scrapbook a lot, so use many pictures for that.

The borders and such are fun. I get the same thing with stickers or my Cricuit machine. Close enough to not want to buy the extra CD.

Just my humble opinion. I'm sure I'll purchase one sometime. We just got back from WDW and I'm just holding out to see if the price changes like they tend to from week to week.
 
I get it every time and feel it's totally worth it.

It's true, there have been some extremely bad shots being taken. But overall I did have at least one nice shot of every situation that I wanted.

I usually have somewhat around 400 pictures, but I normally stay at least 10 days.
 
Disneydaz, those photos are beautiful!!

OP-
We usually have the PP photographers take pictures with both their camera and ours, then get home and look at the differences. Sometimes they are not significant, a few times they have been (especially the night shots - our camera's flash/focus at night isn't great) and we bought a couple of pictures from the photopass card. Haven't gotten to the point where buying the cd is worth it yet ...

You'd have to _really_ want at least 4 pictures at $15 each to make it worthwhile and I've only ordered 1 print off of the card on 2 different trips, so paying the extra $45 for a bunch of photos that I had _almost_ as good copies of on my camera just didn't make sense. Maybe this year ...

(Though we make use of the Free Meet&Greet DisneyVisa Photo when we take DS4 and he wakes us up early enough.)

Hmmm ... one thing that might change my mind (and I might be wrong, but I don't think you can) is if one could load all the ride pictures from Splash/Space/Screamin onto the Photopass card, because our traveling companion usually buys a few of those as his traditional souvenir. Then we could split the cost and print those ride pix too.
 
That is a very nice portrait. Your daughter is a cutie! :cutie:


Thanks!:hug:

taaren said:
Disneydaz, those photos are beautiful!!

Thank you!:grouphug:

taaren said:
Hmmm ... one thing that might change my mind (and I might be wrong, but I don't think you can) is if one could load all the ride pictures from Splash/Space/Screamin onto the Photopass card, because our traveling companion usually buys a few of those as his traditional souvenir. Then we could split the cost and print those ride pix too.

Not yet. I would love to have that option too. So far, the only ride you can get on your PP card is Test Track at Epcot. (at least as of Sept. 2010). We always make sure to get our TT photos loaded to our cards and we have fun playing around with them-reading maps, on our cell phones, asleep in our seats, screaming... Since we get them every time we go to WDW it makes it more interesting!

One thing to consider about getting the PP CD (either at DLR or WDW) is to share with another family. Even if it's at different parks. Then you can split the cost. You don't even have to be there at the same time. As long as your trips start, and end, within 60 days of each other, it will work out. It's how I get our annual fall WDW trip inc. with DLR pix. As I mentioned in previous post in May my DS and her DH are going to WDW for their 30th anniversary, his first trip, only her 2nd. I'm already planning on doing a PP CD during Apr/May/June for us anyway so now they can be included on my CD and share the cost.:goodvibes
 
we were debating whether or not to get it this time. Last time we did and it was nice to get family pics and the special ones but we didn't take a lot.

the thing that changed our minds was the princess fantasy fair and the jedi training. they took pics of the kids there and they were great. we were able to let them get the shots wiht the prncesses while we interacted. At Jedi, we weren't able to get as many great shots because we were farther away and our camera didn't do as well like that. The shots they took came out really well though!

we ended up with about 160 pics from our 6 day trip. $59 is well worth getting those images plus we did the CD of disney images so that was bonus.
 
I agree, getting the Jedi ones is pretty cool! :goodvibesThe PP photogs will take at about 3 of your child (alone) fighting either Darth or Dark Maul and then they take ones of the group as a whole. There are 2 photogs there to take the pix. One does Darth and the other does Dark Maul. Unless you are sitting on the floor yourself during the show, you won't get as good as pictures.

Once the show is over (actually you want to wait an hour or so) head over the the PP store on Main St. and they will pull up the show your child was in and load the pix on your card. Pretty cool!

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And if you're lucky, and can get it set up, you can take ones with Darth between shows. Darth and his light saber are added in. You hold your own light saber. This, as well as the one with you fighting Hook is one of the very special ones you can't recreate with your own camera. (and the hitchhiking ghosts, when you can get them!)
 


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